Fire Bound

Chapter One

Destiny is what's meant to be, they say it's what's written in the stars, your inescapable fate. There's no avoiding destiny — it's going to happen no matter what you do. I thought I could change that. Change my destiny to fit what I wanted. But destiny had other plans for me and veered me down another road.

Roads eventually turned into highways and highways turned into different cities. Each one hiding darkness. A darkness most men would run from, but not me. Instead, I hunt for what lurks in the dark. Exposing evil witches for what they truly are— the summoners of demons. Meddling in the dark arts, black magick, and taking innocent lives as they see fit. The oath in our coven is to harm none and that's why I am hunting down these bastards one by one. I know what the Dark Brotherhood of the Raven clan can do. I saw what their kind did to one of our own, and it almost destroyed her. They're a different breed of witches, obsessed with only greed and power. So now, we've formulated a clan called witch hunters, and the Brotherhood will fall.

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"What are you talking about, Alyssa?" I hop off my custom-made, Bomb Runner bike and grab some stuff out of my bags. I juggle the phone while I unlock the door to the cabin. "Explosions are gonna happen. No... I didn't mean for the neighbor's house to catch on fire. Look, you of all people should know how our fire gets a little out of control?" I let out a sigh and sling my things over to the dusty couch. "Alyssa, look, just tell your Dad everything's taken care of. Just don't mention the other stuff, okay?"

I stroll toward the kitchen and start rummaging through the fridge. "Yeah, well, tell everyone I'm still alive and kickin'." I laugh and press end on my cell phone. The bottled water in my hand almost comes to a boil as I take the cap off. I'm still hotter than hell. Ghostly flames trail up and down my fingertips and I try to reign it in. I didn't expect to be ambushed by a hoard of fire-breathing witches. A guy can only take so much, so I gave them a dose of their own fire. I had no intention of obliterating someone's house, though. The end result—they're gone.

I drag out maps and papers plotting my next move. Every word is encrypted. Every direction is twisted in spells only the Worthington coven knows. I flick the pages back without touching them and get a feeling I'm coming to a dead-end soon. It's the same feeling when I found out Alyssa and I couldn't be bound. I knew it before she moved to Montana and I broke off our relationship. An impulsive response and I regretted it the moment I did it. She knew our connection wasn't a lifemate bond, but nevertheless, I believed I could still have her.

Two witches, lifemates forming an intimate bond like this only makes them stronger together. Bound by blood, their souls would never sever. It's the foundation of our kind. I had fallen so in love with her— nothing would get in my way. No mortal. No witch. And I thought it would happen for us until, that is, Marcus Del Dante came into the picture. Her true lifemate, and even then, I still thought she belonged to me. It's taken me years to finally accept my destiny and let go of the notion we belonged together. Which is why I am here miles and miles away. Instead of hunting for her love, I'm hunting down the ones that almost destroyed her.

I glance down at my phone, a picture of Alyssa and her son, Aden, flashes across my screen. She's probably checking in again. I know the Worthington coven worries about a lone witch out and about, chasing down the most dangerous coven. But I've made it this far, maybe scorched a little here and there, but nothing I can't handle. I pick off the singed pieces from my shirt and hit ignore on the call. Still to this day I'm affected by the sound of her voice. Yeah, I may put on a good front and act all cocky, but I can't let myself slip. I have to stay focused, and more importantly, keep my heart guarded.

Locked, bolted, and impenetrable.

My neck starts to ache like a mother, and I decide it's time to shower. I slide one small map out and mark off the locations I plan to hit next. Shifting to the bedroom I start to grab some towels when I hear a knock on the door. No one knows I'm here. I picked this spot because of its isolation, a lone cabin in the woods. Not a soul could find this place, but apparently, someone has. I tilt my head side to side and whisper, "flames on".

I reach the front door and open it with an age-old spell. "Patefio." I'm ready to light up whoever followed me here.

"David?"

"Evan?"

"What the hell?" I growl, my flames die out and I pierce him with an exasperated look. "Did you bring the cavalry here too?" I peer out the door checking to see if anyone else came with him. He's already shifted inside.

"No," he says behind me.

"Mr. Worthington?"

"No."

"Marc?"

"No."

"Megan?"

"No," he says calmly striding toward a chair and takes a seat making himself at home. "You know, you might want to conceal your trail more, David—"

"Conceal? What do you mean? No one followed me here except, you," I retort and cross my arms over my chest.

"Well, I wouldn't have followed you if it weren't for the smoke signals every five miles or so." He slides his black, leather gloves off and stares at me as if I'm losing my touch.

"Smoke? What smoke?" I brush off his absurd comments and take a seat across from him.

"The police think there's an arsonist in the area."

"Well, good. That'll keep'em off my trail."

Evan shakes his head. "A trail of smoke led me directly here, David?" He scoots back in his seat and adds, "I'm surprised there's still rubber on your bike out there."

"Don't you worry about my bike, Evan. I got everything under control." I stand and start walking toward the door. "Hey, you want something to drink. Maybe some tea?" Evan carefully watches me as I drum my fingers along the doorframe. "I'm sure there's a box of Lipton or whatever it is you drink down the road. Ah... Damn it. I can't think of that name of the store at the moment, but you'll figure it out once you get there."

"No, David. I'm not needing a drink and I'm not leaving...yet."

I glare up at the ceiling and lean against the wall. "What gives? Did Daniel set you up to this?"

"Not exactly, we have a few more leads."

"Leads on more of the Brotherhood? Can't be possible, Evan. I've pretty much, single-handedly, mind you, extinguished most of those sleazebags out," I explain. Evan takes an envelope out from the inside of his coat. His dark trench coat fans out more, and I can see clear vials stashed in the other pocket. I nod his way. "What are you now? CIA? Worthington's top-notched detective?" I chuckle smugly. "Because the way you're dressed doesn't fit you, Evan. It's way overkill."

"Have you not heard a word I said?" He glances up at me. "Every area you've been to, the cops are in hot pursuit for an arsonist riding a motorcycle. It won't take long before someone remembers something." He redirects his gaze from me and pulls out an array of photos and documents. Carefully, he places each across the coffee table in front of us. "Now, do you recognize these?"

I walk over and study the images. "Yeah. I do. The book that summoned Jinn, but I thought..."

"They no longer exist? Well, we think someone has conjured a new one," Evan states and hands me a photo of a group of men and women gathered around a plain, old building. At the bottom, the words Willowshire coven are written. Nothing seems out of the ordinary to me, so I hand it back to him. "Okay? So, there's a new book of shadows to summon our good ol' buddy, Jinn?"

Evan clears his throat and leans forward. "No, not Jinn. A different demon."